65th Birthday of Professor Maria Dolores (Lola) Luque de Castro

Anyone who knows Lola would describe her as an outstanding scientist dedicated to the advancement of analytical chemistry. She started her career with Professor Miguel Valcarcel at the University of Seville and became a full professor at the University of Cordoba in 1992. She has contributed to a wide spectrum of topics but is perhaps best known for her work on flow injection analysis (FIA) where she has developed many applications from continuous sample treatment to fully automated analytical processes. From FIA she moved to robotics, having one of the first robotics platforms in Spain. She has also been a pioneer in the development for novel strategies for sample pre-treatment including pervaporation, microwave heating, ultrasound and continuous systems based on sub- and super-critical fluids. She was recognised with the ExTech 2001 Award for her work in this field.

Far from being confined to these research topics she has continually sought new challenges and different areas of investigation so that, for example, she has made contributions to investigations in jewellery and archaeological materials by means of laser-based techniques and X-ray fluorescence. If all this were not enough she has recently turned her investigations into the current rapidly advancing field of metabolomics.

It would be impossible to list all the subjects that Lola has tackled during her career and the vast amount of data she has generated. Her output can be summarised with about 650 articles, 9 monographs, 12 book chapters, 45 PhD theses and 14 patents. However, beside these impressive numbers, her main contribution lies in her dedication to her students and new researches, her 24/7 availability, her contagious enthusiasm and the ability to make it all seem so effortless. Anyone who has come under her guidance would immediately recognise all of these attributes.

In spite of Lola having turned 65, on 9 November 2009, it seems not to have caused any decrease in her other passion which is sport and we are left wondering just what she will turn her hand to next! We sincerely wish her all the best and continued success in her future activities.

C. Cámara and J.L. Luque-García

University Complutense of Madrid, Spain